Animate Fund 2017
Supporting clever ideas and early stage projects addressing health and social issues in the community.
Animate is a €220,000 fund that provides grants and supports to early stage projects or organisations that have come up with clever ideas to address health and social issues in their community. The Animate Fund has two elements, the first to seek out early stage innovations that have smart responses to general community issues such as poverty, educational disadvantage etc. The specific focus of the second element is on community health with the new Healthy Community Awards, proudly supported by Medtronic.
Rethink Ireland and Medtronic believe that local decision-making and philanthropy can benefit local communities, but can also contribute significantly to global change. Through the Healthy Community Awards, we support local communities to undertake projects that don’t just solve the health issues on their own doorstep, but feed into a bigger solution to global health issues and inequalities, as set out in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Healthy Community Awards are strongly aligned to SDG 3. Animate is a commitment between Rethink Ireland, Medtronic and the Irish Government with €220,000 in funding available to be shared between 10 successful applicants this year.
Awardees
BODYRIGHT
BodyRight aims to prevent the harm caused by sexual violence by providing a tested, coherent approach to delivering sexual health education for young people across Ireland. BodyRight equips teachers, youth workers and other professionals to sensitively and effectively deliver a flexible curriculum that is regularly reviewed and updated. BodyRight seeks to shape young people’s attitudes and embed within schools and youth organisations a knowledge and understanding of consent. This is achieved through a train-the-trainer model, which equips each facilitator to deliver this programme to dozens of young people each year.
CHILDREN'S GRIEF CENTRE
The Children’s Grief Centre, located in Limerick, is a free and voluntary organisation that supports children between the ages of 4 and 18 where parents have separated, divorced or where there has been a bereavement. Since 2009, the Centre has provided a space and place for children to explore their experiences of loss associated with bereavement and parental separation. It provides a safe, non-judgmental environment where grieving children and teenagers can express what they feel and learn they are not alone. At the Children’s Grief Centre, the children and young people are the core focus while also supporting the parents and taking the children through the process of grieving and dealing with their emotions in a positive way.
THE SECONDARY CANCER SUPPORT PROGRAMME
The Secondary Cancer Support Programme will provide an adapted Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Programme (MBSR) for up to 40 people living with a metastatic (stage 4) diagnosis, dealing with anxiety, stress and feelings of isolation due to the ever-changing uncertainty of their health and life expectancy. The MBSR programme will impart skills and tools to help participants build a skillset for creating stability and strength and living well amidst the underlying uncertainty and complex physical, psychological and emotional difficulties associated with a secondary or advanced cancer diagnosis.
EAT WELL LIVE WELL AGE WELL
The mission of Eat Well Live Well Age Well is to support older people to remain living at home for as long as possible by satisfying their nutritional requirements. This modified meal project aims to support older people who have specific dietary requirements by improving the availability of these categories of ready-to-eat meals: texture-modified meals, fortified meals and meals suitable for medically-related dietary requirements. The aim of this project is to make good nutrition more easily accessible to a wider cohort of older people both locally and nationally.
LIVING WELL WITH IBD
There are over 40,000 people living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Ireland. The Living well with IBD self-management programme will be facilitated within community settings to give those impacted by Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease the skills to self-manage their chronic disease, a solution which is not readily available within the standard health care system. Techniques covered in the programme include how to deal with problems or emotions often associated with IBD – including frustration, fatigue, pain, isolation, exercise methods, communicating effectively, nutrition, relaxation, appropriate use of medication, and decision-making in medical care. Upon completion of the programme participants will be given the opportunity to train as self-management leaders within the ISCC.
KICK
KICK (Kickboxing to Inspire & Challenge Kids) was developed in response to a need in Tallaght, Dublin for an innovative programme that addresses rising levels of obesity, mental health issues and anti-social behaviour among teenagers. Students participate in a free 12-week programme that combines challenging youth work activities and kickboxing techniques. At the core of the programme is the aim to ignite a love for the sport in young people at an early stage. Upon completion of the programme, students are invited to come back and develop their leadership skills and act as KICK mentors to the next group of students. Participants are young teenagers from different backgrounds and cultures, varied physical ability, and motivations, often with behavioural problems and from families that live in marginalised communities experiencing various levels of deprivation.
PAVEE POINT TRAVELLER MATERNAL HEALTH INITIATIVE
The Pavee Point Traveller Maternal Health Initiative, based in North Central Dublin, seeks to bridge the gap between Traveller women’s engagement with mainstream antenatal education and maternity services. Working from a community development approach and utilising peer-led support, the initiative will develop practical, accessible, and culturally appropriate resource material to empower and equip Traveller women with vital information in relation to antenatal, intrapartum, postnatal and infant health. The initiative will be piloted through the Eastern Regional Traveller Health Network (ERTHN), which covers the greater Dublin area, Wicklow and Kildare, to be followed by a national rollout.
SUICIDE SPECIFIC TREATMENT TRACK
The Suicide Specific Treatment Track (SSTT) project aims to bring improvement in the management and interventions used to provide support for people who express suicidal ideation, improving outcomes for these people in Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow and Meath. SSTT provides an evidence-based approach to the management of suicidality through identification, risk assessment and early intervention of suicidal ideation among people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. It provides staff and volunteers with a toolkit to use when faced with a person expressing feelings of self-harm and suicide. The objective in utilising SSTT is to reduce A&E admissions, which will result in better outcomes for people experiencing homelessness.
TRTP YOUNG TRAVELLERS PROGRAMME
The TRTP Young Travellers Programme will take an innovative and holistic approach to working with young people from the Travelling community in a bid to address the disproportionately high levels of mental health problems experienced by the community as a whole. Using youth work approaches, this will be accomplished through operation of a Traveller-led and Traveller-specific Youth Programme focusing on Traveller leadership and Traveller mental health. In addition to promoting open discussion around mental health, an objective of the programme is to establish a group of young leaders to serve as an example and inspire other young Travellers in their educational or employment ambitions.
NOT SO DIFFERENT - *ANIMATE CORE WINNER*
The Not So Different programme, based in Coolock, Dublin will address barriers to education and employment as well as isolation and low self-esteem experienced by people on the autism spectrum (ASD) and their families. Unlike many other autism awareness organisations in Ireland, the project is designed and delivered by a person with ASD. The course provides taster modules in four key easily accessible subject areas (autism awareness; cooking and nutrition; horticulture; mental health and wellbeing). The project is underpinned with support and links with community and voluntary sector organisations and Local Development Companies. Not So Different supports people with ASD and their families to experience relevant learning and skills building in a semi-formal learning environment.
